Lower Moreland High School teacher, 33, accused of improper relationship with boy, 17

COURTHOUSE — A Lower Moreland High School teacher allegedly engaged in an improper relationship with a 17-year-old boy, including sending him photos and videos of her that were sexual in nature, according to authorities.

Erica Ann Ginnetti, 33, of the 3400 block of Ashville Street, Philadelphia, a math teacher at the high school, was arraigned Friday before District Court Judge Jay S. Friedenberg in Willow Grove on charges of institutional sexual assault, corruption of a minor, and disseminating obscene materials to a minor in connection with her alleged contact with the teenager since May 2013.

Friedenberg set Ginnetti’s bail at $50,000 unsecured and she was released to await her preliminary hearing on Valentine’s Day. As conditions of bail, Ginnetti, who reportedly is married and has children, was required to surrender her passport and she will be placed on a GPS monitoring system. Friedenberg advised Ginnetti she is to have no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with minors, except for her children.

With the charges, authorities alleged Ginnetti exchanged sexually-charged text messages and videos with the 17-year-old boy on numerous occasions, which eventually led to a sexual encounter in her car in July 2013.

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“I would say that she treated her relationship with this student as she would have treated a relationship with an adult with whom she was involved. They were extremely explicit, very detailed, very graphic and totally inappropriate for a teacher to be communicating in this way with a student,” alleged Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, referring to the text and video exchanges between Ginnetti and the student.

Ginnetti allegedly sent the youth several photographs of herself wearing only a bikini, underwear or a thong and a video that depicted her undressing in a sexually-charged manner, according to court papers.

Ginnetti and the teenager eventually agreed to meet at a Philadelphia location in July 2013 at which time the boy got into Ginnetti’s car and they drove to an industrial area where they parked and had a sexual encounter, according to the arrest affidavit. Authorities determined the location of the alleged sexual encounter was along the border of Lower Moreland Township and Philadelphia.

After the sexual encounter, Ginnetti allegedly told the teenager not to tell anyone about the incident.

“The message here is to teachers, to the adults who are entrusted by institutions with the care, the welfare and the education of students and the message is very clear, there is no circumstance in which it is appropriate for you as the adult to engage in a relationship with your student,” Ferman said.

Lower Moreland Police launched an investigation Jan. 15 after receiving a tip about an alleged sexual relationship between Ginnetti and the 17-year-old boy, a student at the school. The tipster indicated students at the high school were overheard “talking about inappropriate pictures of the minor and the teacher doing ‘sexual things,’” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Lower Moreland Detective John Pasqueal.

When police interviewed the teenager, he admitted “he had been involved in a relationship” with Ginnetti, according to court documents. The boy told detectives Ginnetti was chaperoning a dance at the school when she approached him and asked him if he’d like to work out at her gym and she told him to text her, according to arrest documents. The boy and Ginnetti then began to communicate on a daily basis, detectives alleged.

School district officials, in a statement released on Friday, indicated they are aware of the allegations.

“As soon as the district became aware of the allegation, the teacher was placed on administrative leave. We are now moving swiftly to terminate her employment and will take all steps necessary to ensure the teacher does not teach again,” Superintendent Dr. Marykay Feeley said in the prepared statement, adding school officials are cooperating fully with investigators.

“The safety and well-being of our students remains our top concern at all times,” Feeley added.

Because the allegations represented an ongoing legal investigation, Feeley explained, the district has not been at liberty to disclose information.

“We will only be able to share limited information in the future as this is also a personnel matter,” Feeley said.